UKTV facts for kids
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Formerly
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UKTV New Ventures Limited (2001–2014) |
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| Industry | Mass media |
| Founded | 1 November 1992 |
| Founder | BBC Worldwide / Thames Television |
| Headquarters |
10 Hammersmith Grove, London
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Area served
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Key people
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Marcus Arthur (CEO) |
| Products | UKTV Play |
| Brands | List of channels |
| Services | |
| Parent | BBC Studios |
UKTV is a big British TV company. It owns many TV channels. Since 2019, it has been fully owned by BBC Studios. This is a part of the BBC that makes money. UKTV started on November 1, 1992. It was a partnership between the BBC and Thames Television.
You can watch UKTV channels with a digital satellite or cable TV plan. Some channels like Dave, Drama, W, and Yesterday are also free to watch. You can find them on Freeview and Freesat in the UK. You can also watch shows on the UKTV Play app. Unlike the main BBC channels, UKTV channels show commercials. They also have sponsors.
Most shows on UKTV are old programmes from the BBC's huge collection. But some channels also show programmes made by other companies. UKTV has even made a few of its own shows. Since 2008, UKTV channels have shown programmes in a wide-screen format.
Contents
Discovering UKTV's History
How UKTV Began (1992–1997)
UKTV started with just one channel called UK Gold. The BBC's business part, BBC Enterprises, and Thames Television created it. An American company, Cox Enterprises, later bought most of the shares. This helped pay for the channel's launch.
UK Gold started on November 1, 1992. It showed old, popular programmes from the BBC and Thames Television. Later, another company called Flextech became a part owner. They wanted to own more of UK Gold.
A second channel, UK Living, started on September 1, 1993. It showed programmes for women. By 1996, Flextech owned 80% of UK Gold.
The UKTV Channels Launch (1997)
In 1996, Flextech and the BBC talked about starting new channels. They wanted to call them UKTV. Other companies like BSkyB also wanted to work with the BBC. But the BBC chose Flextech.
The deal was made in March 1997. At first, they thought the channels would be BBC-branded. But the BBC did not want these channels to show commercials. A deal was made: some channels would be BBC-branded and commercial-free. The others would be called UKTV and could show ads. The "UK" name was used because UK Gold was already very popular.
The UKTV network started on November 1, 1997. It launched three new channels: UK Arena (for arts), UK Style (for lifestyle), and UK Horizons (for documentaries). UK Gold kept its name but got a new look. The new channels looked similar to BBC channels. This was because the same company designed their logos.
Growing with Digital TV (1998–2007)
Digital TV came to the UK in 1998. With it, UKTV launched two new channels. These were UK Gold Classics (older shows) and UK Play (comedy and music).
UK Gold Classics did not last long. It became UK Gold 2 in April 1999. This new channel showed UK Gold's morning shows again at night. This was for people who missed them.
To become more popular, UK Play changed its name to Play UK in November 2000. It got a new look. Other UKTV channels used this new look later. In November 2001, UK Style's cooking shows moved to a new channel called 'UK Food'.
Play UK did not become more popular and closed on September 30, 2002. In October, Freeview launched. A new history channel, 'UK History', started. It showed many history programmes from UK Horizons. In January 2003, UKTV launched UK Bright Ideas. This channel showed mixed programmes from other UKTV lifestyle channels.
UK Gold 2 changed again on November 12, 2003. It became UKG2. It showed some shows that used to be on Play UK.
On March 8, 2004, all UKTV channels changed their names. They added "UKTV" before their names. UK Horizons split into two channels: UKTV Documentary and UKTV People.
In 2005, the last new channel with the UKTV name launched. It was 'UKTV Style Gardens'. It later became 'UKTV Gardens'. This channel focused on gardening shows.
Changing Channel Names (2007-2013)
In 2007, UKTV G2 changed its name to 'Dave'. It started broadcasting on Freeview. This was a test for new channel names. The name "Dave" was chosen because "everyone knows a bloke called Dave." It was for a male audience.
On June 11, 2008, UKTV said it would change all its channel names. They would have unique names instead of "UKTV" in front. This started on October 7, 2008. UKTV Gold became G.O.L.D. (now Gold). It only showed comedy. UKTV Drama became Alibi, showing crime dramas. A new channel, Watch (now W), started for general entertainment.
In 2009, the rest of the channels changed names. UKTV Documentary became Eden in January. UKTV People became Blighty in February. UKTV History became Yesterday in March.
In April, UKTV Style became Home. It kept DIY and home makeover shows. UKTV Gardens closed in May. Its shows moved to Home. A new channel, Really, launched. It showed crime, medical, and real-life stories.
The last channel to change was UKTV Food. On June 22, 2009, it became Good Food. This name matched a popular BBC magazine.
New Owners and Changes
In 2011, Virgin Media sold its half of UKTV to Scripps Networks Interactive. This was a big deal worth £339 million.
On March 22, 2012, BT Vision announced it would offer UKTV shows to watch anytime. Later, some UKTV channels started streaming live on BT Vision.
On March 18, 2013, UKTV changed its company logo. This was for its 21st birthday.
In summer 2018, UKTV channels were not available on Virgin Media for almost three weeks. This was due to a disagreement about money. The channels returned on August 11, 2018.
On April 1, 2019, the UKTV channels were split. BBC Studios bought seven channels, including the UKTV brand. Discovery Inc. bought the other three: Good Food, Home, and Really. This sale was part of a bigger deal for BBC's nature shows.
In November 2023, UKTV announced a new name for its free channels. In summer 2024, they will all be called "U". For example, Dave will become "U&Dave".
Commercials on UKTV Channels
In 2003, UKTV studied how commercials affected viewers. They wanted to see if shorter ad breaks worked better.
In February 2004, UKTV made its ad breaks shorter. They wanted to keep viewers and attract more advertisers. Their study showed that shorter breaks made people remember ads more. From March 8, ad breaks were no longer than five minutes. This included three and a half minutes of commercials and one and a half minutes of channel promotions.
Exploring UKTV Channels
UKTV channels are available on satellite and cable in the Ireland and the United Kingdom. In the UK, Yesterday, Dave, Drama, and W are free on Freeview.
Current Free-to-Air Channels
These UKTV channels are free to watch on all platforms.
W
W is a general entertainment channel. It started as Watch on October 7, 2008. The channel changed its name to W in February 2016.
In March 2022, UKTV said W would become a free channel. It joined Dave, Yesterday, and Drama on Freeview from March 28, 2022. W aims for viewers aged 25 to 44.
Dave
Dave is a comedy and entertainment channel. It started as UK Gold 2 on November 12, 2003. This channel was for a younger audience. It was more "edgy" than UK Gold. It later became UKTV G2 in March 2004.
On October 15, 2007, UKTV G2 changed its name to Dave. It was the first channel not to use "UKTV" in its name. Dave became free to watch on Freeview. Dave calls itself "the home of witty banter."
Yesterday
Yesterday focuses on history and old programmes. It started on October 30, 2002, as UK History. This was when Freeview launched. The channel changed its name to UKTV History in March 2004.
The channel relaunched as Yesterday in March 2009. Yesterday shows programmes about history, famous people, nature, and wildlife. Many of these are from the BBC.
Drama
Drama launched on July 8, 2013. It shows British drama programmes from the last 40 years. Drama was the fourth UKTV channel to launch on Freeview.
Current Pay-TV Channels
These UKTV channels are available on Sky and Virgin Media, but not Freeview or Freesat.
Gold
Gold focuses on comedy. It started on November 1, 1992, as UK Gold. It is the oldest channel in the network.
Gold first showed old programmes from Thames Television and the BBC. Over the years, it mainly showed British comedy. It also showed some movies. Recently, Gold has started making its own shows. It also showed the US version of Dancing with the Stars.
UKTV Gold became G.O.L.D. on October 7, 2008. It focused only on comedy. The entertainment shows moved to Watch (W). The channel changed its name again to simply Gold in 2010.
Eden
Eden shows documentaries and factual programmes. It started on March 8, 2004, as UKTV Documentary. It was one of two channels created when UK Horizons split. Eden shows nature documentaries like Planet Earth.
Alibi
Alibi focuses on crime dramas and thrillers. It started as UK Arena in March 2000, then became UK Drama. It changed to UKTV Drama in March 2004.
It relaunched as Alibi on October 7, 2008. It now focuses only on crime dramas. Many of these are from the BBC and ITV.
Catch-up Service
In June 2014, UKTV launched UKTV Play. This is a service where you can watch shows you missed. It launched on phones, computers, and other TV services. UKTV Play has shows from Dave, Yesterday, W, and Drama.
Some other UKTV channels also have catch-up services. You can watch shows from Watch, Gold, Dave, and Alibi on Sky Go. All UKTV channels are also on Virgin TV Anywhere.
FAST Channels
On August 24, 2023, UKTV launched its first four new FAST channels. These are free, ad-supported streaming TV channels. They are called UKTV Play Uncovered, UKTV Play Heroes, UKTV Play Laughs, and UKTV Play Full Throttle. You can find them on Samsung TV Plus and Pluto TV.
Former Channels
UKTV has had many channels that have been replaced.
UK Arena
UK Arena was one of the first UKTV channels. It launched on November 1, 1997. It showed arts and cultural programmes. It was named after the BBC show Arena.
The channel changed its name to UK Drama on March 31, 2000. It then focused on drama shows.
Play UK
Play UK focused on music and comedy. It launched as UK Play on October 10, 1998. It showed music in the morning and comedy in the evening. It changed its name to Play UK in November 2000.
The channel closed on September 30, 2002. Its shows moved to UK Gold and later UK G2. A new channel, UK History, took its place on Freeview.
UK Gold Classics/UK Gold 2
UK Gold Classics showed older comedy programmes. It launched on October 10, 1998. It was only on Sky Digital.
It did not get many viewers. So, it closed on March 28, 1999. On April 2, 1999, it relaunched as UK Gold 2. This channel showed UK Gold's daytime shows again at night.
The channel closed on November 11, 2003. It relaunched as UK G2 the next day.
UK Horizons
UK Horizons was one of the first UKTV channels. It launched on November 1, 1997. It showed documentaries and factual programmes. It was named after the BBC show Horizon.
The channel closed on March 7, 2004. It split into two new channels: UKTV Documentary and UKTV People.
UKTV Bright Ideas
UKTV Bright Ideas launched in January 2003. It showed highlights from UKTV Style, UKTV Food, and UKTV Gardens.
It stopped broadcasting on October 14, 2007. This was to make space for Dave to launch on Freeview.
UKTV Gardens
UKTV Gardens launched in February 2005 as UKTV Style Gardens. It showed programmes about gardening. The channel name was shortened to UKTV Gardens in 2007.
On May 19, 2009, the channel was replaced by Really. All gardening shows moved back to the newly named Home channel.
Blighty
Blighty was a factual channel. It launched on March 8, 2004, as UKTV People. It showed lighter factual programmes like Top Gear.
The channel closed on July 5, 2013. This was just before Drama launched.
Good Food
Good Food focused on food and cooking shows. It launched on November 1, 2001, as UK Food. It changed its name to UKTV Food in March 2004. Then it became Good Food in June 2009.
Good Food showed many cooking programmes. Its website was very popular. After the UKTV network split in 2019, Discovery took over Good Food. They closed the channel on September 12, 2019. Its programmes moved to Food Network.
Home
Home was one of the first UKTV channels. It launched on November 1, 1997, as UK Style. It showed home improvement, DIY, and gardening shows. The cooking shows moved to UK Food in 2001. The gardening shows moved to UKTV Style Gardens in 2005. It changed its name to UKTV Style in 2004, and then to Home in April 2009.
On March 1, 2016, Home became a free-to-air channel on Freeview. After the UKTV network split in 2019, Discovery took over Home. The channel changed its name to HGTV on January 21, 2020.
Really
Really focuses on medical crime, real life, and lifestyle shows. It launched on May 19, 2009, replacing UKTV Gardens.
After the UKTV network split in 2019, Discovery took over Really.
CCXTV
In October 2020, UKTV Media took over the licence for the Freeview channel CCXTV. This channel showed entertainment programmes. On January 25, 2021, it was announced that Drama+1 would take over Freeview channel 73. CCXTV stopped broadcasting on February 1, 2021.
UK Living
UK Living was linked to UK Gold but did not join the UKTV network. It changed its name to Living.
GoldText
GoldText was a text service on UK Gold. It has now closed.
Timeshift Channels
UKTV has many "timeshift" channels. These channels show programmes from the main channel an hour later. This lets people watch shows they missed.
- UK Horizons +1 Hour (now Eden +1) launched in May 2001.
- UK Style + (now HGTV +1) launched in February 2002.
- UK Gold +1 (now Gold +1) launched in August 2002.
- UK Food +1 (now Good Food +1) launched in November 2003.
- UK History +1 (now Yesterday +1) launched in January 2004.
- UKTV G2 +1 (now Dave Ja Vu) launched in November 2004.
- UKTV People +1 launched in 2005. It was replaced by UKTV Drama +1 (now Alibi +1) in May 2006.
- Watch +1 (now W +1) launched on October 7, 2008.
- Drama +1 launched on September 16, 2019.
HD Channels
UKTV has channels in High Definition (HD). This means the picture quality is much clearer.
- Good Food HD launched on August 31, 2010.
- Eden HD launched on October 4, 2010.
- Dave HD and Watch HD (now W HD) launched in October 2011.
- Alibi HD launched in July 2012.
- Gold HD launched on October 2, 2017.
- Yesterday HD launched on Sky in August 2022 and Virgin Media in December 2022.
Awards and Recognitions
UKTV has won awards for its work.
| Year | Association | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
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| 2017 | Diversity in Media Awards | Broadcaster of the Year | UKTV | Won |
See also
- BBC Studios
